Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Alanis MorissetteBrand: MORISSETTE,ALANIS
Edition: Music CD
Audio: German (Unknown); English (Original Language); German (Published)
CD Release Date: 1995-06-13
Music Label: Maverick
Product features:
- MORISSETTE ALANIS JAGGED LITTLE PILL
- All I Really Want
- You Oughta Know
- Perfect
- Hand In My Pocket
- Right Through You
- Forgiven
- You Learn
- Head Over Feet
- Mary Jane
- Ironic
- Not The Doctor
- Wake Up
- You Oughta Know (Alternate Take)
Free Music Notes for Jagged Little Pill
Free Music Review: My Favourite Album Ever - Here's Why:
Hit: 5 Stars
After my review of the Acoustic version, I decided it was time I wrote a second, more important and longer review of my favourite album of all time, Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill." I bought this album in early October 2002 when I was 15 years old. I look back fondly at the review I wrote on October 6th 2002 and now think about how special I thought this album was. I have since had to delete that review to submit this one. I was a little unsure of rock music at that stage, and wasn't quite sure what the devil I was writing about, but I gave it my best shot. Memories like this are very special to me, because in the 34 months since I wrote that review, I have grown up and become a man with this album. At the risk of sounding embarrassingly corny and nostalgic at the same time, it seems like a strange way to define my teenage years. Especially for a guy; to be so inspired by a female vocal album dealing with feminine issues from 10 years ago seems downright strange. Maybe my homosexuality has something to do with it, but I think the fact that this album has mass universal appeal is a more appropriate connection.
So almost three years on and it seems like I've known this album all my life. It's a companion, it's a dear friend, and I relate to it more than any other album I've ever bought. I can only wonder what the next three years of listening will hold for me, and the three after that, and so on. I'm sure the range of emotions won't be as full-on, because the confusion of my teenage adolescence is all but gone, yet perhaps now I can listen contently and grow older with the album through life's many different tribulations.
Looking back to 1995, I have tried many times to remember what I was like around the release of this album. I was only 8 years old, so the memories are few and far between. It wasn't until a year later in 1996 when the Spice Girls hit that I became interested in actually buying music and not just hearing it (not through choice) on the car radio. Sometimes I wish that Jagged Little Pill had been the album to get me interested in music, as it would've certainly been more credible in the present day than the Fab Five. So I completely missed Alanis' world domination through 1995 and 1996, boo-hoo, but I can still vaguely remember hearing the plodding thump of "Hand In My Pocket" on The New 96.3 Radio Aire, and wondering what funny lyrics that lady was singing! I might not remember much personally, but there's tons of stuff that you can know just from the notoriety of such a classic rock album.
When the album was released on June 13th 1995, record label expectations were low. They expected the album to sell 250,000 at best. It entered The Billboard 200 at No.117, but within weeks had begun its swift accent up the charts where it would stay for a further two years (112 further weeks to be exact). The album was a steady seller. It was astonishing when the album had sold a couple of million copies just two months after its release. It sold by the absolute s***-load over the course of the next year, and by June 1996 had sold more than 10 million copies in America alone. There was simply no stopping Jagged Little Pill. It seemed every single angst-ridden teenage in the United States was the proud owner of this album, and by July 1998, the album had been certified 16x Platinum in America. The complete Billboard chart-run for Jagged Little Pill is as follows:
[--117-90-43-30-14-10-7-7-3-3-3-3-3-3-1-1-2-3-2-3-4-3-4-6-6-6-7-6-3-3-3-3-3-2-1-2-2-1-1-1-2-1-1-1-2-3-5-3-2-4-2-3-3-4-2-3-2-2-2-2-1-1-1-4-4-5-4-3-8-6-5-8-13-14-14-16-11-9-9-10-12-15-21-24-29-32-29-29-37-42-42-41-49-58-68-66-67-67-79-73-83-81-85-94-87-84-90-81-95-97--].
The success of the album was completely global. The United Kingdom had cottoned onto Alanis, and despite only one of the album's six singles making the UK Top 10 (Head Over Feet), the album was 1996's biggest seller, topping the charts for an unprecedented 21 weeks and selling close to 3 million copies. Even Madonna had not achieved album success like this in her career, and this was only a debut album from a relatively unknown. The success was repeated in countries such as Australia where the album became one of the few in history to shift more than a million copies. Eight million copies were sold in Europe alone and millions more in the Far East. Current sales stand around 30 million units worldwide, making it easily the most successful female debut album in the history of music. The fact that this album consistently remains in Amazon's Top 500 Best Selling Albums which is updated on a daily basis is a testament to its enduring popularity and appeal.
I believe there are three main factors that contribute to the mammoth success of this pop culture staple of an album. The first is timing: the world was simply ready for a headstrong angry female. Alanis was all that and then some! Secondly, the vocals and lyrics go hand-in-hand as the perfect musical partnership. Thirdly, the melodies of every single song were so fresh and unique. Yes, the music was commercial, but it was great as well. Radio stations all over the planet played singles such as "Ironic," "You Learn," "You Oughta Know," "Head Over Feet," "Hand In My Pocket" and "All I Really Want" over and over and over until the point of complete saturation. This didn't do the sales of the album any harm, obviously.
The melodies and vocal arrangements are the biggest strength of this album, and the main reason why I will listen to it for the rest of my life. The opener "All I Really Want" has a bold, striking harmonica that gets trapped in a driving guitar beat as Alanis questions, "Do I stress you out?" The lyrics sound absurd at first, slightly abstract, but very visual with images of splintered rulers cropping up. Yet over time, the lyrics become second nature, and the listener understands exactly the point Alanis is trying to get across. "You Oughta Know" was the album's first single and the reason that this album got noticed. The sight of the angst-ridden vixen trekking across the desert as she spat venom at an ex-lover is one of the greatest video moments of the Nineties. Four-letter expletives and odes to oral sex aside, the song is a rock anthem of grandeur proportion. "Perfect" became an anthem for teenagers who feel inadequate to the pressures of what it means to be 'perfect.' From Alanis' point of view, it's pushy parents, but for millions around the world it could have been any relative, or any friend at school. The emotion transcends the music as Alanis peaks, wailing, "Why are you crying?"
"Hand In My Pocket" is a pop classic, defined by the complete sense of randomness and craziness. The image of Alanis breezing through life, despite the crap that it throws at us, and still coming out of it all smiling is something that the world smiled back at. An anthem that picks you up when you're down, this song will live on and on. "Right Through You" is the album's shortest song, but sure sticks in your mind as a strong rocker. The song is a bit heavier than anything else here, with guitars that really rock hard and drums that pound relentlessly in your brain. The lyrical content is quite meaningless, as Alanis sings about someone (a guy, presumably) who takes Alanis for a fool. "Forgiven" is a song that I absolutely adore and even used in one of my art projects about messages in words back in early 2003. This is one of the more serious song on the album as Alanis sings about religion and the deceit of the Church. Controversy aside, this song comes exactly halfway through the album, and is almost the centrepiece around which everything else swirls. This becomes all the more obvious as the third minute approaches, and the build up climbs and climbs until Alanis is screeching, "If I jump in this fountain, will I be forgiven?!"
I sometimes sit in amazement at the way "You Learn" is composed. This is a pop masterpiece of a song, especially the last two minutes. The lyrics are random and sparse as they were three tracks previously, yet the melody is stronger and the vocal hook more memorable in my opinion. Alanis shines on this album as her personality breaks through to reveal a woman who is open and honest about her feelings and opinions on life. "Head Over Feet" is an amazing song which oozes simplicity, yet is complex and layered underneath the surface. This is reflected in the rather bland video, yet what is going on in Alanis' head as she sings to the camera is anyone's guess. The defining moment of the song comes, of course, as she sings "I couldn't help it, it's all your fault!" Here we perceive Alanis as selfish and childish, yet that's all part of the plan on the image created for this song. "Mary Jane" is the album's main ballad and seen by many to be the 'worst' song on the album. The guitar work is beautiful and melancholy as it seems to echo over a morning woodland sunrise and Alanis' primal vocals cut like a knife about the ambigious Mary Jane so depressed with life.
"Ironic" is arguably the most popular song of Morissette's career, and in many ways always will be. The lyrics aren't actually ironic, as critics will be quick to tell you, but maybe that's the irony. Don't ya think? The flow of the song in the bridge is just beautiful. "Not The Doctor" is another favourite of mine, because of the imagery that the lyrics create. There's some clever word play at work here, and the chorus simply sways with seething anger. The three choruses gradually become more aggressive and snarling, especially at the point where Alanis sings, "...Sneak me in and oo-hhhhh!" The album closes with "Wake Up" which is absolutely brilliant and seems like a psychedelic trip overlooking the previous 11 songs. The lyrics don't really matter much here, because there's a sense of monumental achievement as the myriad of vocals rise and fall in the final minute.
After that song finishes, there's a few minutes of silence before "Your House" begins playing. This hidden track became a fan-favourite and it's rather funny that it's one of the album's best moments. A completely acoustic track, Alanis sings a story about how she went to her lover's house and stumbled across a letter that gave away the fact that he was cheating on her. It doesn't sound very original, but the combination of progressive lyrics and powerful vocals make it positively chilling.
OVERALL GRADE: 10/10
So that's my review in full. Ever so sorry for gushing, but I was always going to do it at some point. People are just going to have to realise that Jagged Little Pill is one of a few albums that is praised so much because it actually deserves it. If you don't agree then fine, that's your opinion, but please don't try to take others down just because you don't agree with their opinion that it's the best album ever created. I don't believe that this album is the best album ever made, but it's certainly my *favourite* for so many reasons. I hope to introduce this album to many people over the course of the rest of my life, although I think it will have to be the next generation, as virtually everyone alive in this generation owns a copy! I feel almost blessed to have this album in my life, because it touches me on levels I couldn't have imagined. The intimacy is overwhelming, which is quite ironic from one of the most popular albums of all time. If you don't own this album, then you must buy a copy. You probably won't love it as much as I do (I don't think anyone does) but hopefully you'll get something out of it. If not then you can just marvel at this incredibly overblown review: the true sign of this album's worth in my eyes.
Jagged Little Pill Poster
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